Two days after the assassination of a decapitated teacher on Friday in the Yvelines by a young Russian Chechen man, gatherings are planned for Sunday all over France to pay tribute to him.
The leaders of the main political parties, associations and unions will demonstrate on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. in Paris, Place de la République, and in many other cities including Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Nantes or even Marseille, Lille and Bordeaux.
The boss of La République en Marche, Stanislas Guerini, the leader of La France insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the boss of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, and that of Europe-Ecology-The Greens, Julien Bayou, in particular confirmed their participation.
Their respective political parties also called to join the rallies.
The Charlie Hebdo newspaper also joined the appeal in the capital.
Place de la République, a traditional venue for demonstrations in Paris, was the epicenter of the huge parade of January 11, 2015 after the Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Hide attacks, which gathered around 1.5 million participants. .
Samuel Paty was assassinated on Friday for showing Muhammad cartoons in one of his classes.
Faced with this horror, with @DessinezCL, @SOS_Racisme and teachers' unions, we are calling for a rally on Sunday 18/10 at 3 p.m., Place de la République in Paris.
pic.twitter.com/UP7AmsC1jR
- Charlie Hebdo (@Charlie_Hebdo_) October 17, 2020
The Association of Mayors of France (AMF) also called on Saturday all municipalities to pay tribute to the victim, proposing "to display on their buildings the hashtag #JeSuisEnseignant, to respect a minute of silence at the next meeting of the municipal council and choose a day to lower the town hall flag ".
The national tribute to Samuel Paty, the beheaded teacher, will be held on Wednesday, the Élysée said on Saturday, October 17.
This tribute is being organized in coordination with the family and the location where it will take place has not yet been announced.
Spontaneous tributes
As of Saturday, several hundred people gathered in Nice or Rennes to denounce an "act of barbarism" and defend "the values of democracy".
In addition, a thousand parents, elected officials or ordinary citizens of all generations gathered with emotion in front of the school where the history teacher taught in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.
Some held up "I am a teacher" or "I am a teacher" signs.
The city of Conflans in shock after the assassination of Samuel Paty
00:50
Update on the investigation
The facts took place around 5 p.m. on Friday, October 16, near the Bois d'Aulne college in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, according to a police source.
Police officers from the city's anti-crime brigade (BAC) have been called in for a suspicious individual prowling around a school, according to this source.
On the spot, they discovered the victim and, 200 meters further on in Éragny, tried to stop a man armed with a knife which threatened them and fired on him.
The assailant is an 18-year-old Chechen Russian boy.
Known for a background of common law, his criminal record was however blank and he was not known to the intelligence services for radicalization, according to several sources familiar with the matter.
A message addressed to Emmanuel Macron, "the leader of the infidels", explaining wanting to take revenge on the one "who dared to belittle Muhammad" and the photo of his decapitated victim were found stored in his phone.
They had also been posted on Twitter.
Entrusted to the anti-terrorism prosecution, the investigation led to the arrest of ten people.
Among them, a very active Islamist activist, Abdelhakim Sefrioui.
Abdelhakim Sefrioui had accompanied at the beginning of October to the college of Bois d'Aulne in Conflans-Saint-Honorine, the father of a student to ask for the dismissal of the victim, who had shown caricatures of the prophet Mohammed to his students.
Introducing himself as "member of the Council of Imams of France", he had released a video a few days ago in which he denounced the professor.
Abdelhakim Sefrioui, member of the council of imams of France participated in this fatwa against professor #SamuelPaty as
well as the Great Mosque of Pantin which relayed it.
I hope that their responsibility will be engaged.
pic.twitter.com/AYccj4vUm8
- Waleed Al-husseini (@W_Alhusseini) October 17, 2020
Among those arrested is the parent of a student involved in this dispute with Samuel Paty on the distribution in class of the cartoons of Muhammad.
The half-sister of this parent of a student joined the Islamic State organization in 2014 in Syria and is wanted by the anti-terrorism justice.
Three people from the assailant's non-family circle were also arrested.
Four other people, including a minor, from the suspect's family circle, had previously been arrested in Évreux, in the Eure region.
With AFP
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